10 Colombian police killed in rebel ambush
Ten Colombian policemen were killedand three wounded Tuesday in an attack by the National Liberation Army (ELN), National Police Operational Director Alberto Ruiz said.

Patrolling near the town of Paimado in Choco province, 700 km northwest of Bogota, the police was attacked by at least 100 insurgents of the ELN, Colombia's second largest guerrilla group.

"The police officers were investigating reports of an armed group operating along a highway when they were attacked with rifles and machine guns. Ten officers died and three more were wounded," Ruiz said.

"The rebels attacked the 30-man patrol. They opened machine gunfire and the land was mined," Ruiz added.

Since President Alvaro Uribe assumed office in 2002, he has intensified military actions against guerrillas, including the ELN and the much larger Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia.

Uribe has also started peace talks with guerrillas, but little progress has been made.

Colombia has been plagued by a four-decade civil war, killing 3,500 people on average each year.
 

China, Argentina to establish strategic partnership
China and Argentina have decided to establish and develop a "strategic partnership," Chinese President Hu Jintao and his Argentine counterpart Nestor Kirchner said here Tuesday.

Hu, beginning his first state visit to Argentina on Tuesday, held talks with Kirchner on Tuesday afternoon, the second time they met in a year. The Argentine president visited China in June this year.

"We have decided to establish and develop strategic partnership and our friendly ties will grow comprehensively on a new basis," Hu told the press after the talks.

The term of "strategic partnership" was the latest definition of the bilateral relations. Previously, it was called "full-range cooperative partnership."

China and Argentina signed five agreements Tuesday on expanding cooperation in fields of space technology, education, tourism, railways and trade.

President Kirchner told Hu that Argentina was grateful to China for its support and assistance when Argentina was in time of need. He also stressed that his government will firmly support China's stance on the issue of Taiwan.

During the meeting, the two presidents agreed to increase political trust through more exchanges of personnel, expand economic cooperation and trade, increase educational and tourist exchanges, and strengthen cooperation in international affairs.

They also agreed to expand cooperation in agriculture and animal husbandry, manufacturing, mineral resources, energy, transportation and telecommunications.

"We are satisfied with the result of today's meeting," said the Chinese president.

China and Argentina established diplomatic relations in 1972. The two nations signed several cooperation documents on civil aviation, public health, culture, investment and agriculture during President Kirchner's trip to China earlier this year.

Kirchner said China has become Argentina's fourth largest trading partner and the "best buyer" of Argentine goods in Asia.

Bilateral trade reached 3.2 billion US dollars last year, up 122 percent from the previous year. China mainly imports soybean, bean oil, crude oil, leather and steel from Argentina, and exports computer, life science products, bulb and motorcycles, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

 

In the market for a change? Click here!

Pinochet owns huge assets of doubtful origin: report Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet has assets of doubtful origin worth 13 million US dollars in offshore bank accounts, primarily in the US-based Riggs Bank, said a police report published Tuesday. The assets include three million dollars to the name of Pinochet's wife Lucia Hiriart, according to the report of Chilean police's Money Laundering Investigative Brigade (Brilac). The report, published by the El Mercurio daily on Tuesday, was required by Judge Sergio Munoz, who was assigned to look into possible corruption of Pinochet. Brilac gave the figure after months of studies of materials from Riggs Bank. Pinochet, 88, came to power in 1973 after a bloody coup against then Socialist president Salvador Allende and ruled Chile with iron fist till 1990. An official report by the civilian government that succeeded Pinochet said 3,197 people died or disappeared under Pinochet's military rule. Brilac's figure is close to that presented by Pinochet's personal financial advisor Oscar Aitken, who claimed Pinochet's assets could amount to 15 million dollars. On Wednesday, the Court of Appeals of Santiago decides whether to remove Pinochet's immunity as a former head of state because ofhis presumed role in a 1974 terrorist assault that killed army chief Carlos Prats in Argentina. Pinochet was spared trial in Chile for human rights violations in 2001 after doctors declared him physically unfit.